General Dynamics/Convair protested the decision and built a small-wing prototype of the Model 48 Charger anyway, which first flew on 29 November 1964. This was also a twin-boom aircraft that had a broadly similar layout to the Bronco. The Charger, while capable of outperforming the OV-10 in some respects, crashed on 19 October 1965 after 196 test flights. Convair dropped out of contention.

General Dynamics/Convair Model 48 Charger.

"The original concept of a small, simple aircraft that could operate close to the supported troops had been almost completely eviscerated by the 'system.' The ability to operate from roads (20 ft span and 6.5 tread) had been ignored, and performance compromised by the short 30 ft span, the extra 1000 lbs for the rough field landing gear and another 1000 lbs of electronics. The "light, simple" airplane also had a full complement of instruments, ejection seats and seven external store stations. The concept of using ground ordnance and a bomb bay had been ignored, although it did have provisions for four M60 [medium] machine guns. In spite of this growth (almost double the size and weight of our home built), the YOV-10 still had great potential. It would not achieve the advantages of integration with the ground scheme of maneuver, but it did have capabilities at the low end of the performance envelope that were still valuable and unique."

The Bronco performed observation, forward air control, helicopter escort, armed reconnaissance, gunfire spotting, utility light air transport and limited ground attack. The Bronco has also performed aerial radiological reconnaissance, tactical air observation, artillery and naval gunfire spotting and airborne control of tactical air support operations, and front line, low-level aerial photography. A prototype in Vietnam designed to lay smoke was extremely successful, kept in service by evaluators for several months, and only reluctantly released, was not purchased due to a perceived lack of mission.

Visually, the OV-10 has a central nacelle containing pilots and cargo, and twin booms containing twin turboprop engines. The visually-distinctive item of the aircraft is the combination of the twin booms, with the horizontal stabilizer that connects them. The North Vietnamese nickname for an OV-10 was chuong lon or "pigpen", perhaps because its tail empennage resembled a traditional Vietnamese pig enclosure.

The OV-10 can perform short takeoffs and landings on aircraft carriers without using catapults. The cockpit has extremely good visibility for a tandem pilot and co-pilot provided by a wrap-around "greenhouse." With the second seat removed, it can carry 1,452 kg (3,200 lb) of cargo, five paratroopers or two litter patients and an attendant. Empty weight was 3,161 kg (6,969 lb). Normal operating fueled weight, with two crew was 4,494 kg (9,908 lb). Maximum takeoff weight was 6,563 kg (14,466 lb).

The bottom of the fuselage contains sponsons or "stub wings" that improves flight performance by decreasing aerodynamic drag underneath the fuselage. The sponsons were mounted horizontally on the prototype. Testing caused them to be redesigned for production aircraft. The downward angle assured that stores carried on the sponsons jettisoned cleanly. Normally four 7.62 mm M60C machine guns were carried on the sponsons with the M-60Cs accessed through a large forward-opening hatch on the top of each sponson. The sponsons also had four racks to carry bombs, pods or fuel. The wings outboard of the engines contain two additional racks, one per side. The sponsons are easy to remove, and most unarmed Broncos have now had their sponsons removed.

Racked armament in the Vietnam War was usually seven-shot 2.75 inch (70 mm) rocket pods with marker or high-explosive rockets, or 5 inch (127 mm) four-shot Zuni rocket pods. Bombs, ADSIDS air-delivered seismic sensors, Mk-6 battlefield illumination flares, and other stores were carried as well.

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